FORUM 3
To reach maturity, it was required that a decision--a choice--be made. God made provision for this choice. It was necessary to "provoke" a decision of the will. Adam had been free to employ this freedom in its complete purity in his daily choices. He chose how to act throughout the whole day--doing this or that, going here or there. But the real freedom occurs when one faces a prohibition; that is, he finds himself faced with a problem presenting two issues. What are the issues? (1) Obey--"Yes, I decide to follow the voice of my God, who commands me not to do this or that," or (2) disobey--"No, I choose to act counter to the request of my God; I will do this or that." An inner conflict ensued, with the will controling the decision. Adam and Eve faced an experience that would determine their future direction--up or down.
"When Adam and Eve were placed in the beautiful garden, they had everything for their happiness which they could desire. But God chose, in His all-wise arrangements, to test their loyalty before they could be rendered eternally secure. They were to have His favor, and He was to converse with them and they with Him. Yet He did not place evil out of their reach. Satan was permitted to tempt them. If they endured the trial they were to be in perpetual favor with God and the heavenly angels." --The Story of Redemption, p. 24.
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17.
Some people might say, But why doesn't this speak of the law of God, the Ten Commandments? Why didn't God just wait for Adam and Eve to steal, to lie, or to kill--and then say, "As you know, this is bad and opposed to righteousness!" Or, why didn't He simply say, "Behold, I engrave My law on a stone in the center of the garden as a sign of 'Regulations' for you and your descendants"? He wouldn't have had to go so far as to give a prohibition not to eat the fruit of a particular tree!
Well, the answer is easy: "God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Ecclesiastes 7:29.
At the beginning, there was nothing evil in the hearts of Adam and Eve; nothing evil could enter their minds. They knew what was good, and nothing more. The law was engraved in their hearts; they did not imagine anything other than speaking the truth, loving their neighbor, and loving God the way He told them. They had never seen or heard of a lie, theft, or murder; they knew nothing about what that could be. They could not picture evil. That is why the serpent tempted them in a subtle way: "…Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5. Getting more knowledge! How interesting! Acquiring knowledge just by eating some fruit! In fact, although the temptation was small, it demonstrated the issue of choice in the face of temptation, no matter how large or small.
Our first parents' mistake was to prefer themselves over God.
Selfishness, that basic sin, has two main aspects--covetousness and pride. And covetousness falls into two categories--the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes. See 1 John 2:16.
What does temptation imply?
1. Dishonoring God by doubting the accuracy, pertinence, and authority of His command. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1.
"Such has been Satan's work from the days of Adam to the present, and he has pursued it with great success. He tempts men to distrust God's love and to doubt His wisdom.…
"Satan represented to the holy pair that they would be gainers by breaking the law of God.…
"Eve really believed the words of Satan, but her belief did not save her from the penalty of sin. She disbelieved the words of God, and this was what led to her fall. In the judgment men will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie, but because they did not believe the truth, because they neglected the opportunity of learning what is truth." --Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 55.
2. Coveting something that one is neither to eat nor touch. "…The tree … was pleasant to the eyes,…" Genesis 3:6. Perhaps Eve was thinking, It is true that it appears desirable; the serpent can speak, and I have never seen such a thing before. The serpent has just eaten of the fruit. In short, she saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise.
3. Making God a liar and making oneself superior to Him by drawing one's own conclusion. "Ye shall not surely die." Genesis 3:4. Eve preferred to hear the insinuations of the serpent and to believe his way of presenting things, rather than pay attention to her own Creator. Two versions of the same thing were presented, but only one of them could be true. Eve chose by herself who was a liar: God. What followed would prove the opposite.
4. Making God an enemy. The serpent implied, God does not want you to become like Him, knowing good and evil. He said, "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4, 5.
By declaring that the serpent was right, Eve made God unrighteous-- someone who did not want them to reach a higher level of knowledge. Hence, God was considered an enemy of their well being.
5. Stealing something that one is neither to eat nor touch. "…She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,…" Genesis 3:6. God had told them, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:…" Genesis 2:17. God had given them freedom to eat from all the trees of the garden with the exception of one.
When Eve went to her husband, she had even more persuasive arguments:
1. When she tempted her husband to eat of the fruit, she used the same words as the serpent: "Ye shall not surely die." "It must be so," she may have said, "for I don't feel any sign of God's displeasure; on the contrary, I feel a wonderful influence, thrilling every faculty with new life, such as possessed by the heavenly messengers." She convinced her husband to eat of the fruit. She defied the divine order; and then she wanted to show "her love for her husband" by sharing her new happiness with him--what God had forbidden.
It's no different today. Satan insinuates that there will be advantages when one violates God's law. Don't we hear similar arguments today? A good number of people boast of their broad-mindedness and their great freedom, ridiculing the narrow-mindedness of those who obey the divine commandments.
2. She put her husband in mortal danger without thought or consideration. Eve was really short sighted, in essence saying, I'm not dead yet, so I won't die at all. Is such thinking valid enough to induce someone to transgress a law, the penalty for which is death? Today the same thinking is repeated: Is it really a sin? Does God even exist? Will He do what He says? We don't see anything.
And what about Adam? He had more thoughts:
1. Should he believe in God or his wife? She is alive and feels different. Whom should I believe? But by now Eve has become a greater tempter than the serpent. "After all, he reasoned, might not the words of the wise serpent be true? Eve was before him, as beautiful and apparently as innocent as before this act of disobedience. She expressed greater love for him than before. No sign of death appeared in her, and he decided to brave the consequences. He seized the fruit and quickly ate." --Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 56, 57.
2. He loved his wife above God. Anyway, I will follow my wife. These seemed to be Adam's only thoughts. Perhaps he believed that God was right but that death would be postponed. At least, this is how he acted. His affection for Eve came first; it exceeded his love, gratitude, and faithfulness to his Creator. He said to himself, Isn't she a part of me? How can I bear the thought of being separated from her?
| Discussion questions |
| 1. |
Can you think of a time or incident in the Bible in which a person who did not obey God was blessed? |
| 2. |
What examples do you see in society around you, in which disobedience to the Ten Commandments is considered "the right thing to do" or disloyalty to God is rewarded? What do you see as the general trend? What kinds of things do we learn outside as well as inside school? |
| 3. |
"There is no sin in having temptations, but sin comes when temptation is yielded to." --Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 358. Describe the difference between temptation and sin. When does a temptation become something that hurts us and/or others? (See James 1:13-15.) Can temptation be a blessing? |
| 4. |
What seed did Satan succeed in planting in Eve's mind? What different course of investigation could (and should) she have taken? |
| 5. |
Discuss the following statement: Adam "understood the high destiny opened to the human race should they remain faithful to God. Yet all these blessings were lost sight of in the fear of losing that one gift which in his eyes outvalued every other. Love, gratitude, loyalty to the Creator--all were overborne by love to Eve. She was a part of himself, and he could not endure the thought of separation. He did not realize that the same Infinite Power who had from the dust of the earth created him, a living, beautiful form, and had in love given him a companion, could supply her place.…" --Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 56. |
| 6. |
In the end, what do you think the mathematical chances are that sin (going our own way against better knowledge) is ever profitable? |
